PRO-CHOICE

The Right To Choose

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” – Matthew 25:34-40 (NASB)

As I entitled this devotion pro-life: the right to choose, I realize that this sounds like a politically charged topic. And I guess in some ways it probably is but, not for the reasons you might think. When it comes to abortion, I am unequivocally pro-life! This is where it gets a little confusing, I am also pro-choice. I state this way because each one of us with rare exceptions has the right to choose. And in fact it’s a God-given right. In theological terms, we call it freewill.

The Holman Bible Dictionary would define freewill as “the ability the creator gave people to make meaningful decisions, especially concerning their relationship to God. Because humanity was created in the image of God, freedom is an inherent part of human nature.” In Genesis 1:26 we read, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God made us in his image and gave us the ability to rule over his creation. This gives us the ability to exercise choice throughout life.

Here’s the deal, while we get to choose what we do we never get to choose the consequences that result. The passage of Scripture we are studying this week in Matthew 25 illustrates that what we do throughout our life, the choices we make, will have eternal consequences when this life is over. Society would tell you in today’s terms that you can have it your way, you deserve it, you can have it all, but it’s a lie. It’s amazing to me how we can study physics accepting Newton’s laws of motion, but question the spiritual laws that also govern our universe. Someone would say will it’s because we can’t see the spiritual laws, but we can see the results of the physical laws. I tell you that we can see the results of the spiritual laws born out in our society each and every day.

Parents learn early on that their toddler exercises his right to choose; sometimes he is compliant with the parents’ wishes and sometimes he’s disobedient but each time he chooses what he will do. There’s really little difference between that example and our relationship with our heavenly Father. God created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. Moreover, he fashioned all the laws both physical and metaphysical that govern our universe. He knows how it all fits together. He has given us a guideline by which to live we call it the Holy Bible and it is up to us whether we believe it and live it. It is our choice!

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

I thank you for loving me and giving me the ability to live my life as I see fit. Just as You have created the physical laws with their actions and reactions so to You created spiritual laws. I know that You have given me the right to choose and Father I understand that my choices have consequences. Give me the wisdom to make wise choices, that I might honor You with my life and with my choices. For it is in the matchless name of Jesus I pray, Amen.